Where the Wild Trolls Are

My husband, who is a Maine backwoodsman, has never been to the Coastal Botanical Gardens several hours from our home.  So I took him a few days ago.  But it wasn't to see the fall foliage.  It was to stand under, touch, walk around and wonder at the giants of the woods, the Guardians of the Seeds, who reside beneath the canopy of conifers and deciduous trees all aflame with color in mid-October.  As we wandered in and around the 300 acre gardens, these fantastical two story tall recycled wood art sculptures stood, and sometimes sat, proudly protecting the earth.  Like mythical creatures with a short lifespan.  Once they rot and dissolve into the earth that's it. That you Thomas Dambo, the Denmark artist who installed them in Spring of 2021.  According to tale, the five of them, Roskva, Bark, Gro, Soren and Lilja, have collected enough seeds to last until the end of time. I pose here under the grace of Roskva. She stands for trunks and is the strongest of the trolls, greeting you as you cross the bridge and begin to walk the woods and flowers.  She counts the seasons and remembers everything that happens around her.  I want to live among these trolls, giants who protect and muse, remember and give strength.  She will live a long life in my dreams.